Orange Crush
by Pureauthor
Summary: Focus is essential to being a good CO. If you couldn't focus, you made stupid decisions, and people die. Rachel knew this. She had been trained in this. She excelled in this. So why couldn't she stop thinking about Jake?
1. Chapter 1

Orange Crush

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Yeah. AWDS is digital crack, only with less obvious side-effects. One of those side effects, in my case, is writing a story about it.

Jake/Rachel pairing inherent. Ye be warned.

* * *

Orange Star's Omega Land HQ was largely deserted. It was supposed to be an off-day for most of the crew, and the vast majority of them had chosen to spend the day somewhere off the grounds. What few people still remained appeared to be focused on tasks that, but their nature, were immobile, such as repairing damaged Medium Tanks.

Not that Rachel really blamed them. The interior of the HQ was generally accepted by al and sundry as an unavoidable eyesore. Whoever had designed this place had obviously put functionality over aesthetics. Nor were there many recreational activities in the area that didn't require brainwork, which was of course anathema to the average soldier.

Not that she was paying much attention to the HQ right now. When you had lived in these corridors of steel as long as she had, they had a tendency to fade into the background of the mind.

Of course, having a task to focus on helped matters, too.

The Orange Star CO cupped her chin thoughtfully as she viewed the scattered mess of units before her. She'd participated in these exercises with her fellow Commandings Officers dozens – maybe even hundreds – of times before. A simulated battle amongst two opposing teams, trying to let one side achieve victory. She usually excelled at these sort of thing, somehow always managing to see exactly what unit needed to be in a particular position, how to take advantage of weak points in the enemy's defensive lines, and the like. It was this sort of affinity for detail that made you a CO, and Rachel thrived on these exercises.

Today, however... Today, she was having trouble concentrating. Or to be more accurate, she was having trouble concentrating on the digital grid in front of her. What was occupying her attention was more the CO sitting opposite the table, peering intently at the map.

Sandy blonde hair, a white jacket with ripped sleeves, a seemingly ubiquitous pair of headphones, and seemingly neutral expression permanently etched onto his face.

Jake.

More and more, her fellow CO had been on her thoughts. She had first noticed herself seemingly going to slightly greater lengths than absolutely necessary to look out for him during the whole mess with Black Hole, and rapidly it had gotten very much worse. Nights, especially, seemed to be prime time for her brain to deluge her with thoughts about him, since during the day she could generally occupy her mind with accomplishing her current tasks at hand (which was mostly dealing with a seemingly unending mountain of paperwork). In the silence of night, however…

And now. With him sitting not five feet away from her, she couldn't help _but_ notice. The way he stroked his chin contemplatively. The way he subconsciously reached up to adjust his headphones for the umpteenth time - _They keep slipping off. Maybe I should buy him a new pair._ -, the way he-

_Snap out of it._ She reminded herself, and turned back to the war-game in question. Her mind, however, was considerably slower on the uptake, and chose to keep itself occupied with Jake.

"Yo, Rach?" His voice and distinctive speech pattern broke the near-silence of the darkened room. "Are you tripping or what? You look like you got spaced or something."

"Wha-?" She shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm just fine." Saying so, she hastily typed in a command, and busied herself with watching the holographic images of her troops move into the position specified.

However, her traitorous brain had other ideas, and commanded her eyes to stray upwards to observe Jake. He was frowning as he stared at the grid. His right hand drifted slightly towards the command keyboard, then moved away again.

Finally, he spoke. "Okay… I can't be sure that this isn't you setting me up for some mondo-sized smackdown, but…" He tapped three keys in rapid succession, and a trio of tanks rolled forward, engaging Rachel's forces.

Her eyes widened. Of all the-! Her forces had been arrayed in one of the traditionally stupidest formations to use when fighting on open ground, and Jake had instinctively exploited it. How could she have missed that?

"No!" She blurted as she watched her entire defensive line fold in on itself, leaving her factories and HQ completely open to attack.

Jake raised an eyebrow at the dismayed expression on her face. "I'm guessing that _wasn't_ a setup, then."

Rachel slumped back in her seat. "Yield." She croaked weakly, and watched the holographic screens dissipate, and the nearby computer add the current score and the replay to its databank for analysis later.

She let out a tired smile as he stood. "You're getting better." She offered. Jake shook his head.

"Rachel, you're always the one with all the wicked plans, and I take the field. What's eating you, sister?"

She stifled a snort of laughter at the term he used for her. It _was_ true that they had a sort of brother-sister relationship, in the sense that both looked out for each other in life, but she knew the term he used had nothing really to do with that. "I'll be fine." She said to cover up. "Just tired. You know, dealing with all the paperwork."

Jake nodded understandingly. "Need me to lend a hand?"

She shook her head. The _last_ thing she needed was for him to distract her in the office. "No need. I can handle it."

Jake shrugged, waved goodbye, then walked off, fiddling with his music player and changing the tracks.

Rachel sat there for a couple more minutes, simply staring at the blank gridscreen in front of her. Then she got up, stretched, and left the room as well.

* * *

The next day dawned to reveal Rachel in her office, yawning, and rubbing her eyes, which showed distinct eye-bags under them. When you this amount of stuff to do, the term 'all-nighter' was best taken literally.

Sifting through yet another report that detailed the arid agriculture around city so-and-so, it took a Herculean effort to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the nearly word-for-word similarity of this report to every other last one that detailed the land's devastation. She had to constantly remind herself that these were real people, living real lives, experiencing real suffering.

She was just about to mark the report as 'read' when a harried knocking sounded on the door. An instant later, Jake burst in.

"Rachel, aren't you prepping up?"

"Prepping? For what?" She glanced up, half of her glad to see him, the other half annoyed at this interruption.

Jake shot her a look of abject disbelief. "For the arrival of the commanders, that's what. What, slipped your mind?"

Rachel frowned for a second, then her eyes widened. Commanding Officer Andy! He was arriving today to help with the restoration effort, along with her sister! And she had forgotten!

Practically jumping out of her chair, she started firing instructions out as rapidly as possible, her panicked mind not really processing that only Jake was currently available, and that, competent as he was, he'd never be able to accomplish _all_ the assigned tasks.

"Okay, get the honour guard – no, we've got to ensure the landing strip is clear first. Alright, send in units three and five. And, uh, tell the parade commander to get ready – we've no time for a dress rehearsal, do we – and inform all people involved in the receiving party to-"

"Rachel, chill." Jake held up his arm. "Most of the crew are already moving through preparations just fine."

"…Oh." Rachel wasn't sure if she felt happy or disappointed at the fact. While she was glad that things were proceeding smoothly even with her slip-up, the fact that everything had passed her by left her with a sense of redundancy. "Good, I guess…"

Jake shrugged. "'S all cool. But you need to get yourself ready, too. Freshen up, change clothes. You know, the works?"

Rachel nodded and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I guess. Meet me at the operations lobby in… fifteen minutes, okay?"

* * *

"Jake, could you _please_ put away your headphones?" Rachel said pleadingly as the convoy of arriving vehicles began to pull into the reception bay. "We want to give as good an impression as possible."

Jake complied, then tugged at his jacket slightly to straighten it out. Rachel, meanwhile, stood at attention as the APC rolled to a stop, directly in front of them.

She sifted through a mental list. Her jacket was buttoned, her regulation cap was straight, the soldiers were all in position…

Yup, they were ready.

The door hissed, slid open, and Andy stepped out of the door covered in grease stains, the sleeve of his uniform ripped, and polishing a wrench.

Dumbstruck did not begin to describe Rachel's reaction to this scene. Before she could get her mind around to forming coherent words, an annoyed voice sounded from behind him. "Now do you see why I told you not to bother with the engine?" From behind Andy emerged a woman with a golden flowing golden locks and shining blue eyes. "We'd have gotten here fine even if you hadn't tinkered with it!"

Andy grinned. "Yeah, but I did, and we got here even better! Wasn't that a smooth trip, Nell?"

The Commander-in-Chief of Orange Star rolled her eyes, then smiled at Rachel. "It's good to see you again. How are things?"

"They're fine, sis- Commander Nell." Rachel's mind switched tracks towards dealing with things she could expect. Andy, meanwhile, headed over to chat with Jake, who seemed to be dealing with the mechanically inclined CO's less-than-stellar appearance with little to no problem.

As the company turned and headed back into the main building, Rachel couldn't help the feeling that the next few days weren't going to be very boring, all things considered…

* * *

Prologue completed. Thank you for reading. Please review. 


	2. Chapter 2

Orange Crush

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Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

The hallway was deserted aside from the figure of Jake strolling down the corridor, seemingly engrossed in fiddling with his music player. If anyone had been observing him, they would have noted that his entire attention seemed devoted to the handheld machine.

Appearances are oft deceiving. Jake's mind was, in reality, preoccupied with issues of rather different nature.

Well, issue, actually. Singular form.

Jake had a problem.

Jake had a crush on Rachel.

The above two sentences may be used interchangeably at the reader's discretion.

Mayhaps the entire distinction could have been brought into clearer light had it been explained that Jake had a crush on Rachel, but didn't much feel like telling her about it.

That aside, Jake was so involved with what he was thinking about that he rounded a corner and walked into Andy.

A 'whuf!' of air escaped from the black-haired CO as he stumbled back and landed rather ungracefully on the hard floor.

"Oh, sorry, dude." Jake extended a hand downwards, helping Andy back to his feet.

"It's alright." Andy glanced up, and a smile formed on his face. "Jake, right? We met the other day."

"Uh… yeah, I know." Jake scratched his head. He'd heard Andy had an enthusiasm that bothered on hyperactive, but he hadn't stuck around the CO for any period of time near enough to observe it firsthand.

Somewhere in his mind, a voice told him to be thankful for that.

"So, uh, where you heading?" Jake asked. Andy grinned and held up a wrench.

"I heard some of the Md. Tanks needed servicing, so I'm going to take a look at them! Wanna come with me?"

Jake blinked at this unexpected invitation, but after a moment's hesitation, he nodded in acceptance. "Sounds tight. I'm game."

Andy nodded and headed off towards the garages, Jake following closely behind.

* * *

Nell shook her head sympathetically as she stared at the mountain of paper her sister was waging a seemingly endless war against. "The damage from the Black Obelisks must have been a lot more severe than I thought."

"Tell me about it." Rachel said distractedly. "Almost all agricultural based towns around Red Rock Desert and the Crimson Sea have reported severe decreases in crop yields, cities in regions that had operating Black Crystals are reporting arid topsoil conditions, and the Verdant Forest has just about shriveled into matchsticks. We _are_ receiving more reports that areas on the perimeter of the Black Obelisks desertification extents are starting to heal themselves, which is a good thing, but overall, it's still a mess."

"Indeed. But… something doesn't seem right."

"What? Black Hole is finished. For now, anyway. The land will heal itself, but it'll take time. What's not right?"

"I'm not talking about the war and the rebuilding. I'm talking about you. You always seem a bit flustered now whenever I see you."

"Oh, I guess I- I'm just tired, you know. Swamped with work and all that."

One thing hadn't changed in all their years together; Nell could always tell if Rachel was lying. _Always._ Wincing, the younger CO slid lower into her chair and attempted to vanish under the mountain of reports that was stacked onto her desk, while her older sister leaned back and folded her arms, a bemused look on her face as she waited for Rachel to spill the beans.

A long, tense silence ensued, before Rachel sighed. Staring at the desk and refusing to meet her sister's gaze, she blurted out, "It's Jake."

"The CO you were training before the war?"

"Uh-huh." Rachel nodded. "It's not that… It's just… I can't stop thinking about him. I'll do something, then my mind wanders, and always ends up focused on him again. I don't what to do, and I don't want to tell him about it and have him think I'm some freaky stalker or something, and – what's so funny?" Rachel had glanced up in time to see Nell suppressing a giggle.

"Oh, dear sister." Nell leaned forward, a knowing smile on her face. "Never let it be said that I am one to leap to hasty conclusions, but I do believe that _you_," She paused to smile. "Have a crush on Jake."

"Wha-?" Rachel sputtered, before quickly coming to grips with the situation – or as much as was possible, anyway. "D-don't be silly! Why would I – I mean, he never, he – I – he…" She trailed away as she saw Nell watching her with that downright _irritating_ look that always spoke volumes.

Nell was right, and Rachel knew it.

Rachel hung her head in defeat. "You're right." She finally admitted in a small voice.

Nell tapped her chin thoughtfully in response. "Now, what would be the best way to go about telling him? Hmm, decisions, decisions…"

This was enough to catapult Rachel halfway out of her seat with alarm. "No! You can't!" She blurted out.

Nell raised an eyebrow, and Rachel began to get the sinking feeling that her sister was deriving entirely too much _fun_ out of this. "I can't tell him? Hmm… That seems like a rather draconian measure, if I say so myself. Why, back in Macro Land, we used to have a term for this sort of thing-"

"Nell! Do _not_ tell him about this! This conversation does _not_ leave the room, understood?" Ordinarily, Rachel would never have had the courage to say this to Nell, but with this at stake… Rachel suspected she had already gone red in the face.

Nell suppressed a tiny chuckle, before bowing graciously. "Have it your way, sister dear." She said, before turning and heading out the door, leaving Rachel to groan and slump back into her chair.

* * *

"No. 4 Wrench."

Obligingly, Jake picked up the required tool and handed it Andy, while the black haired CO continued his work on the damaged engine of the Md. Tank.

"So, anyway, Rachel's always looked out for me these past few years. Especially during the whole mess with the Black Hole goons."

"And it was during that time that you found yourself focusing on her a bit too much?" Andy said distractedly as he unbolted the casing of the engine.

"Well, yeah."

"Did Rachel ever give any hint she felt the same way towards you? Oh, and pass me the coaxial cables."

"Here you go. And no, not really. Not until we were about the lay the smackdown on Von Bolt, anyway. Then she started talking about us as a team, and all that."

"That's good, right? Ugh, stupid belt lining…"

"Well, I thought so, until she mentioned that she thought of me as a younger brother or close enough."

"Ouch."

"Word."

"No, I mean ouch. I caught my finger on a jag."

"…Oh."

"But anyway!" Andy glanced up temporarily from the engine, grease stains covering his face. "Have you, y'know, told her about this?"

"'Course not. I'm not stupid."

"Stupid how?"

"Tell her and have her think I'm whacked? What kinda delusional fool would you need to be to do something like that?"

"I don't know. What kind of delusional fool falls in love with someone that he thinks won't love him back?"

"Are you listening to yourself? Who _chooses_ to fall in love anyway, man?"

Andy didn't reply immediately to this, instead polishing his wrench for several seconds. Then, he finally spoke again, in a far more serious tone than before.

"Personally, I'd rather take the option that gives me a shot at the relationship than the option that leaves me feeling lousy."

Jake opened his mouth to retort in kind, but paused. Then he shook his head. "Maybe you're right. I just… I need to think about this for a while now."

Andy shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm hungry. Going to get some eats." He walked off, leaving Jake to his pondering.

* * *

"Oh, hi Andy." Nell glanced up from the book she was reading. "How's Omega Land so far?"

"It's pretty fun! Jake showed me around the headquarters for a while, and then he joined me at the servicing areas for a talk while I worked on the Md. Tanks." Strolling over to a sandwich vending machine, he inserted several coins and waited patiently for the machine to heat up his meal.

Nell raised an eyebrow at the mention of Jake. "Hm. What did you talk with him about, then?"

Andy paused. "Oh, uh, I can't really talk about it. Made a promise to Jake. Where were _you_?"

"I was talking with my sister. And before you ask, I'm not allowed to talk about it either."

"Oh…" The wrapped sandwich plopped onto the serving tray and Andy grabbed it, chewing hungrily on the toasted bread. Nell, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow.

Andy had a conversation with Jake, and apparently Jake didn't want the transcript of said conversation being leaked. Nell had had a conversation with Rachel, and Rachel didn't want anyone to know what they had been discussing.

A slow smile spread across her face. It seemed the pair had a lot more in common than either would have realized.

"I think that, even without bothering to share it, we can get a pretty good idea of what all of us have been talking about, right, Andy?"

The mechanically inclined CO paused and swallowed thoughtfully. His brow furrowed, he reached up to brush several crumbs from his mouth. Then he finally shook his head. "Nope. No clue."

"Oh, never mind. Finish up that sandwich and follow me." Nell smiled. "We've got work to do."

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Orange Crush

* * *

I own nothing.

* * *

"EEK!"

The scream bounced along the corridors of Orange Star's Omega Land HQ, causing Andy to look up from the sheet of paper Nell had sent him off with. A second later, the source of the screaming became readily apparent as a black blur rounded the corridor and collided into him.

Andy had just enough time to brace himself for the impact, and was thus left standing. The black blur, however, fairly bounced off him and landing on the floor with an 'Ow!'.

"Ooh… who decided to stick something in the middle of the hallway, anyway?" Lash mumbled unhappily as she rubbed her sore bottom.

"L-Lash?" Andy said incredulously. He remembered reports that the Black Hole CO had defected from her original allegiance and fought on the side of the Allied Nations. Her technical expertise on Black Hole weaponry had been vital in defeating Black Hole as soundly as they had managed to.

Still, he hadn't heard about her taking up residence in Orange Star's HQ…

Lash got to her feet. "Oh, it's you. You're that mechanical nerd, right?"

"Um… yeah. I guess." Andy replied slowly. Apparently, her personality hadn't improved much.

Before either of them could get any further in their conversation, a tiny black cockroach scampered around the corner, antennae waving wildly as it weaved to and fro along the floor.

Lash seemed to recall why she had screamed in the first place, and quickly ducked behind Andy. "Keep it away!" She snapped at the male CO, who stared at her in bewilderment.

Shrugging, Andy walked over and cupped his hand. In one smooth motion, he'd caught the roach by one of it's legs. Dangling it in the air as it frantically wriggled to get out of his grip, Andy turned to Lash. "You're _scared_ of this?"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and tossed it out a nearby window.

Lash, meanwhile, had moved a couple of steps closer to Andy and begun staring quizzically at his hands. Wary of this strange behaviour, Andy took a half step backwards. "Um… what are you doing?"

Lash didn't reply for a minute or so, still peering intently at the digits on Andy's hands. Abruptly, she reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard in the process.

As the male CO yelped in pain, Lash squealed with delight. "It's perfect!" She cried. "Come on! You're helping me with my newest experiment!"

"I – I am?" Was all Andy had time to utter before he was whisked down the hallway.

* * *

The elevator opened with a soft 'ding!' and Rachel stepped inside, head lowered as she scanned the file in an attempt to mentally calculate the best course of action to take concerning a city off the west coast.

So engrossed was she in the folder that it wasn't until she heard the 'Where to?' that she raised her head to see Jake standing by the control panel, thumb hovering slightly over the buttons.

"Oh, tenth floor." She said quickly, before returning to the file in an effort to block Jake out from her mind.

Predictably, she met with a zero success rate. Thoughts of Jake had entered her mind, and they were not about to be dislodged anytime soon.

Hiding a scowl, she tucked the folder under her arm and prayed silently for the lift to hurry up.

* * *

"Here! Hold these!" Lash said as she hastily shoved what appeared to be a pair of silver rods into Andy's hands.

"And, uh, what are 'these'?" Andy asked suspiciously as he brought those rods up to eye level.

"Oh, they're polyconductors to transfer your body structure into that." Lash replied carelessly as she pointed to what appeared to be a black blob suspended in clear fluid.

Andy raised an eyebrow as Lash unwound a long coil of wire and inserted it deep into the black mass. Turning, she attached the other end of the wire into the rod in Andy's right hand, afterwhich she quickly repeated the process with another wire, and Andy's left hand.

"So, that black thing is…"

"Oozium 239." Lash grinned. "Kindle made the Oozium 238, but it was nothing special! I'm gonna show her that I can make a better one! Hee!"

Before Andy could inquire further, Lash promptly headed to what appeared to be a makeshift control panel. "We're going to need _lots and lots_ of power!" She cried excitedly, and flipped a rather large red lever.

* * *

The lift abruptly ground to a halt, sending it's occupants staggering. Rachel was on the verge of losing her footing when Jake's hand caught onto her shoulder, steadying her.

Offering a grateful nod in Jake's general direction, and realizing belatedly that he wouldn't have been able to see it (the lights had gone out too), she opened her mouth. "Thanks."

"'S no problem." He replied.

There was silence in the lift for a few seconds.

"Shouldn't the backup lights be kicking in by now?"

Just then, the interior of the lift was flooded in a crimson glow.

"There we go." Rachel said with relief. Then, removing her cap, she shook her head. "I kinda wish they didn't use bloodred for the colour, though…"

* * *

"Um, I don't think this is a good idea…" Andy said as he glanced around the darkened room. "Using power from all over the HQ to power one experiment?"

"Oh, they won't get mad! I do it all the time anyway." Lash said dismissively. "Now, you gotta grip the conductors _really_ hard or it won't work, got it?"

"Uh, yeah. Got it." Andy replied nervously. Lash appeared _far_ too excited about this for his liking.

Tapping away at the keyboard, Lash giggled to herself as the black ooze began to glow.

* * *

An unfortunate consequence of draining the power also meant that there was no longer any air conditioning throughout the entire complex.

Of course, it was bad enough with the summer heat, but in the closed, cramped area of the elevator, it was _unbearable_. The glare of the lights probably didn't help any.

Jake shrugged out of his jacket, leaving himself in a white singlet, and settled back against the wall of the lift. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Rachel was still in her regulation jacket. The fact that her's was a long-sleeved one made it all the more incomprehensible to him.

"Rachel? You not feeling the heat? Why are you still in those heavy clothes?"

"Easy for _you_ to say." She mumbled. "You're a guy."

"It's not like you're not wearing anything underneath it." Jake pointed out. "And if it gets you that hot under the collar," _Poor choice of words, there._ Jake thought, but continued anyway. "I promise I won't look or anything."

"That's not the _point_." Rachel grumbled, but nevertheless, she began pulling at the sleeves of her jacket.

True to his word, Jake turned his head away and closed his eyes as he heard the soft _fwumpf!_ of Rachel's jacket hitting the floor. _I wonder what caused the blackout?_ He thought to himself. Then a sigh. _If I know Lash, she's involved, one way or the other._

* * *

The Oozium was beginning to throb and writhe in it's tank. Lash was doing a brilliant impression of a mad scientist, was Andy was simultaneously getting bored with the whole display and getting nervous about what everyone else in the building had to be going through.

"Lash, I really don't think-"

"Shh!" The wild-haired girl shushed him and continued fiddling with the control panel.

For what appeared to be several minutes, nothing happened except for the Oozium continuing to pulse silently. Then, just as Andy was preparing to speak up again, the blob began to grow.

Eyes wide, the male CO watched the thick mass as it grew too large for it's container. The black semisolid quivered, bunched up slightly, then expanded again with greater force, shattering through the thick glass.

The Oozium spilled over onto the floor, and as Andy watched, it seemed to fold in on itself, before growing again, this time at a far faster rate.

* * *

Jake and Rachel sat side by side in silence, bored.

Or at least, they appeared bored. Jake wasn't sure what Rachel was thinking, but based on her slightly blank stare and lowered eyelids, he suspected she was on the verge of nodding off.

As for himself, his mind was currently wandering as he attempted to figure out the cause of the blackout. Knowing Lash, she was involved in this somehow. ­_Exactly_ how was the problem.

Jake remained still in the semidarkness, pondering.

* * *

Rachel was having a tougher and tougher time keeping her eyes open. The recent mountains of paperwork she had been tackling was taking it's inevitable toll on her, and her body was currently sending every signal it possibly could to inform her that she was in dire need of rest. Not to mention the heat was making her rather drowsy.

But she couldn't fall asleep here. Not only would it be unseemly for a CO, there was the tiny matter of Jake as well. She didn't want Jake to see her like this.

No, there was no possible she could allow her…self to… fall… as…

* * *

Jake's eyebrow's raised as he felt Rachel's head hit his shoulder and stay there. Her deep, regular breathing told him she was fast asleep, and likely to remain that way for some time.

After a moment of trying to decide what to do, he slowly eased Rachel's head down onto his outstretched leg. He wasn't sure it was the best course of action to take, nor was he certain Rachel would be absolutely comfortable with it when she woke up, but he figured resting on his leg had to be more comfortable then his rather bony shoulder.

That finished, he settled back once more for the long wait.

* * *

Andy blinked, and Andy followed suit, blinking as he stared at Andy.

Andy reached up to scratch his forehead as Andy turned around to face Lash. Andy then proceeded to continue turning around, looking at the whole room, while Andy stared in consternation at Andy.

"It works!" Lash squealed with glee. "The Oozium 239 is a success!"

Andy cleared his throat. "You made Ooziums that could become clones of other people… why?"

"Oh, lots of things! For example, you can order it to help you out around the house or something, you can send it to spy on other people, you can get your personal army of bodyguards, you can-"

"Okay, I get the point." Andy said hastily.

Lash pursed her lips. "But I haven't even got to the really interesting uses yet!" She whined. "Oh, whatever! Here, let me show you something else! Oozium!"

Andyzium (as he is henceforth to be known as) turned to regard Lash again.

"Oozium, take this bucket and go fill it with water." Lash said imperiously, handing Andyzium a tiny bucket.

Andyzium took the bucket, turned towards the door, and exploded into a hundred pieces of slimy black goo.

There was complete silence and stillness in the room for several minutes. Then Andy reached up, wiped some of the black goop off his face, and opened his mouth. "Restore power to the building, Lash. Now."

For once, she didn't bother to argue.

* * *

Jake had long since donned his headphones, and after checking that they were at a suitable volume, was now listening to a bunch of his favourite tracks while he waited for the lift to reactivate.

While doing so, he decided that it was probably a good thing that the aeration systems were still working. It probably wouldn't be a very pleasant prospect to be trapped with a decreasing supply of air.

Just then, the lights came on, the lift jolted, and they began ascending again.

Jake nodded with satisfaction, and tapped Rachel gently on the shoulder. "Rach? Lift's on the move again. Time to get up."

* * *

Rachel sat up sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. "Mornin'" She mumbled to Jake, her mind still not fully functioning and thus depriving her of several critical powers of deduction.

However, as they haze around her mind cleared and she began to notice where she was (and the position she had very recently been in), she uttered a startled cry and jerked away from Jake.

Before she could say anything however, Jake had already stood up and begun putting on his jacket again. "Rachel, take my word for it and go easy. You look like you're about to drop faster than a phat beat."

"Uh… okay." She said automatically as her stunned mind tried to form some soft of response at a higher intellectual level.

Jake scratched at his neck for a moment, seeming like he wanted to say something – but the lift doors had already opened with a soft 'ding!' Nodding towards her, stepping out of the lift, leaving Rachel alone in the softly whirring elevator.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Please review. 


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Orange Crush

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

_Keep head low. Don't talk. Don't scream. In fact, don't do anything. Act **normal**._ Rachel had repeated the mantra to herself for upwards of an hour, to the point where it had been drilled into her subconscious memory and replayed in her mind like an endless loop from some B-grade movie reel.

Still, it was the only way she could retain a semblance of normality in her facial expressions. That, and _not_ thinking about what had happened in the elevator.

Nell walked into the room, a pile of papers tucked under one hand, and asked, "Rachel, are you all right? You look like you're in the process on a nervous breakdown."

Okay, maybe 'semblance of normality' was too optimistic after all.

Dropping the pretence and burying her head into her arms, Rachel began to speak.

"Um, Rachel? I can't hear you if you're mumbling into your sleeve."

Wearily, she raised her head and stared at her sister. "The power went out just now," She stated, her brain not processing that her sister would of course have realized this, being in the building herself. "Jake and I were in the lift, and then I dunno, I think I fell asleep, and then when I woke up my head was on Jake's lap, and I think I didn't fall down halfway, so he probably shifted me onto his lap or something, but why would he do something like that? Not to say it was _uncomfortable_ or anything like that, but why did he do it? Maybe he was using it as a prelude to making more moves on me, but I really don't think he'd do something like that. Would he? I'm not too sure, he's never given me the impression that he's a stalker or anything of that sort. He's not _creepy_ or anything, but then again, I've never really paid much attention to him or anything, even though I _do_ have a crush on him- and don't tell anyone. Oh, gosh, what if everything I thought about Jake was wrong and he's really a creepy perverted stalker or the kind of guy that calls you and breathes heavily into the phone or something? Oh, I have the _worst_ luck with men – you're lucky, sis, you've always been, and tell me, tell me, what should I _do_?"

Nell had been listening with a bemused expression on her face throughout the Rachel's outpouring of words, and now that there was silence in the room, she cleared her throat, wondering how best to handle this rather… shall we say, _delicate_ situation.

"Well…" She began slowly. "Maybe we should get Jake's perspective on this issue. I mean, he might have a different view of whatever it was that happened, after all.

* * *

"Hey, Jake." Andy said cheerfully as he caught sight of his fellow CO. "How's things?"

Jake raised his head from his music player. "It's cool, how are you hanging?"

"Fine." Andy scratched his head nervously. "Hey, uh, you know the blackout just now? Did anything happen during it?"

Jake frowned, trying to dredge up his memory. "Nothing too trippy. Then again, I was stuck in a lift at the time."

* * *

"No, don't." Rachel shook her head tiredly. "Keep this between you and me, sis. I don't want Jake getting any weird ideas." _Or, as things may be, getting MORE weird ideas._

Nell nodded her acquiescence. "Very well, then."

Nell, Rachel observed, seemed sincere, but there was something about the way her sister carried herself that refused to allow her to be too entirely at ease about the situation.

* * *

Perhaps there _is_ something to be said for women's intuition after all, for no sooner had Nell left the room than a devious plan began to form in her mind.

Well, perhaps not devious. That might be too strong a word. Let us replace it with 'sinister'. Nell had a sinister plan.

Hmmm… No. Sinister convokes intentions of wrongdoing, evil, nastiness, and that which is generally considered Not Nice. Nell's plan would probably humiliate Rachel somewhat, but since it was ultimately for her own good, one would have to let that slide.

Scheming plan does sound rather redundant, doesn't it? Frutiful bears too much connotations, especially since we know not if the plan will succeed in the end.

Well, Nell had a plan. We can get around to finding a good adjective for it later. Assuming I can find my thesaurus.

Well, that aside, she had a plan, and she was set to carry it out, in fact, she had already begun the initial phase – until she caught sight of a mop of black hair disappearing behind a bend in the corridor.

"Lash?" Nell queried the empty hallway.

"_I do believe I'm being taunted. Sami? Bring her back to me… alive."_

An eyebrow quirked up as she recalled her first encountered with the eccentric inventor and wunderkind of Black Hole. Decision made, she resolved to follow the young scientist and find out what she was up to.

* * *

"You're good." Andy said admiringly as he watched Jake's tanks cross the plains swiftly, mowing down digitized infantry in their wake.

"But I'm better." The black-haired CO finished as he tapped several commands into his keyboard. On cue, a volley of artillery fire rained down on the tanks, forcing them to retreat out of range of the explosive shells.

Andy stuck his tongue out playfully at Jake. Jake smirked in response. "You could've picked up that sort of trick first year in the Academy. Decent, but nothing hardcore."

Andy frowned as he noticed two planes materialize from seemingly nowhere on the grid. He'd heard about those stealth fighters, but he'd never actually seen one in action – digital representation or no.

Quickly, the twin planes swooped in, laying waste to the frontline of Andy's troops. Andy quickly moved anti-aircraft units up front, knowing that the most he'd do was drive the planes into hiding again.

"Smackdown!" Jake crowed.

Andy nodded, before settling down again. He still had a few cards to play…

* * *

Nell caught sight of Andy sitting close to Lash, seemingly doing nothing in particular. His eyes were closed, and Lash was ignoring him completely.

Now that Nell was in front of Lash, she was abruptly confronted with the slightly worrying problem of having nothing to say.

However, that was quickly solved by Lash turning to her, a quizzical look on her face. "Hey! You're that granny!"

Nell closed her eyes, reminding herself that Lash was now an ially/i, and trying not to throttle the little pint-sized-

She broke off that train of though, and turned to Lash. "I prefer the term 'Ms. Nell, if you don't mind." She said as cordially as she could. "And what are you and Andy doing?"

"Andy? Huh?" Lash whirled around until she caught sight of Andy sitting on the bench. "Oh, that," She grinned. "Here, let me show you…"

* * *

Rachel collapsed back into her chair as she wearily filed yet another sheathe or papers into a plastic binder.

"And that's all for the Black Sea sector." She said wearily as she placed the file as the top piece in an ever-growing stack.

Suddenly, she heard the distinct melodious tones of a cell phone ringing, and glancing around, she quickly caught sight of an azure blue mobile on the side table.

It was unmistakably her sister's.

With a sigh, Rachel strolled over and picked it up. "This is Rachel. Nell's not here right now, but-"

"Ah, Rachel?" Her sister's voice sounded through the phone. "I must have left my phone in your office, then."

"Yeah, you did."

"Could you come and bring it over? I'll be in the simulator training room."

"I'm kind of busy, sis." Rachel replied with a silent sigh. "But I'll be there."

"Thanks, Rach. See you."

_

* * *

Click._

Nell thumbed the 'disconnect' button and turned to Lash. "Thanks for letting me borrow your phone."

"No problem." She said, obviously not interested. "Just leave it on the bench."

Nell did so, and with a smile on her face, she headed to the training simulations centre.

There was much work to be done.

* * *

"Yo, Andy. You've been glancing at your wristwatch constantly, man. What's smoking?"

Andy glanced up. "Huh, what? No… nothing. It's… nothing."

Hardly convincing, but enough to get Jake to back off, at least for the moment. And that was all Andy needed.

_Nell had better hurry up and get here._ Andy thought to himself as he observed his mechs enter a skirmish with Jake's tanks.

There was much work to do.

* * *

Short chapter for such a long wait, I know. Sorry. I'll do my best to update sooner next time.

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Orange Crush

* * *

Sorry about the long gap in update times, people. I have an ever increasing workload, not to mention a large number of great games have been sucking up my time.

Disclaimer: See, if I owned anything, a sequel would have been announced by now.

* * *

It took a rather long while for Rachel to make her way towards the correct block. This was not helped by the fact that it appeared to be cleaning day, and that several signs had been put up warning people not to cross newly-waxed and cleaned floors on pain of death. Well, at least she should reach that place soon…

Sighing as she took another detour to avoid yet another blasted sign, she sighed and pulled out her access pass as she caught sight of the door to the training room. Tapping it, she stepped through the door as it slid open – straight into a storage closet.

"Wha-? I thought this was the right way…" She mumbled to herself. Oh, well. All she had to do was retrace her steps until she found the correct route again.

Exiting the cramped room, she headed left, the direction she had originally come from.

…

She _had_ originally come from the left, right?

Standing still, she glanced one way down the corridor, then the other.

* * *

Most COs make their mark in having one or two exceptional traits that help define them and who they are. Jake was known for his combat ability on the open plains and his rather… unique way of speaking. Andy was known for his amazing ability with mechanical issues, and his youthful innocence that bordered on naiveté. Nell was known for her exceptional administrative ability, and her downright unearthly luck. Rachel… Rachel was known for her cheerful optimism and endless energy.

There, however, _was_ a certain trait of Rachel that very few people know about. Namely, that fact she had absolutely _terrible_ sense of direction. And this was something she would _never_ reveal to anyone

She had gotten around this by sticking to direct routes throughout the HQ, and always keeping a handy map by her side. Eventually, the routes had become so ingrained in her mind that she had simply left the map elsewhere.

It had never occurred to her that one day she might have ended up having to deviate from the routes she had so painstakingly planned out in her mind. And, well, now she was stuck up the creek without a paddle.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

She sighed and reached up to adjust her cap to a more comfortable position, stopping when she saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye.

"Andy? Hey, Andy!" Quickly she changed directions, hurrying after the CO.

Andy stopped and turned, looking at her. For an instant, she thought that there was something strange about him…

Dismissing that quickly, she smiled nervously at him. "Could you, uh… do you know the way to the Simulator room?"

Andy stared at her for several more seconds, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. Then, abruptly, he pivoted on one foot, pointing down a hallway, before walking in that direction himself.

"Huh- hey, wait!" Rachel broke into a jog, eager to catch up with him.

* * *

"So, you're certain he'll work out." Nell said skeptically as she gazed at the security camera. On it, what appeared to be a perfect replica of Andy strode past, with Rachel fairly jogging to keep pace with him.

"Uh-huh!" Lash nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he originally blew up a lot whenever I gave him a command, but I worked on it and managed to cool down the internal systems a lot. Now he's as reliable as… as… hm… as the real Andy! Yeah!"

Nell merely nodded as she continued her observation. She hadn't originally planned on involving Lash in this – but in the end, it helped fill up a rather glaring omission in her own plan. Having to rely on her sister's questionable sense of direction was something Nell hadn't been too comfortable about, after all.

The Andyzium rounded another corner, pushing open another doorway. Nell quirked a smile as she watched her sister, visibly impatient, follow.

"Andy." She said to no one in particular. "You're up."

* * *

Even as he pondered over the digital grid, Andy felt a tiny vibration in his pocket. His cell phone.

Of course, he wasn't going to answer. Doing that would have spoiled the whole plan, after all. Sure enough, after a couple of second, the vibrating stopped – Nell had hung up.

Glancing over at Jake, he offered a friendly smile. "Feel like taking a break?"

Jake mulled it over for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Sure, why not. Can't keep the heat on constantly, after all."

Andy stood and stretched. "Bah. Muscles always end up cramped when I sit down too long."

"True that."

Acting like he felt something was weird, Andy began patting his pockets. "Ah – oh, jeez! My handphone!"

Jake glanced over. "What happened?"

"I think I – I lost my cell phone! Oh, man, what's Nell going to say?" Andy desperately hoped he wasn't hamming up the role too much.

Thankfully, Jake seemed ready to believe him. Putting one hand to his chin, Jake scratched it thoughtfully. "Where were you last?"

"All over the halls – I don't remember. Cleaning day – I had to take so many detours." Andy replied distractedly as he continued to pat his pockets.

"… All right, calm down." Jake shrugged on his jacket. "I'll help you go dig around. You take that way, I'll go that way."

"Got it, thanks, man." Andy nodded gratefully.

As soon as Jake left the room, Andy pulled out his cell phone and hit the button to contact the last caller.

"Hello? Nell? It worked. Jake's in the hallways now."

* * *

"Good going, Andy." Nell smiled. "Lash?"

"Yeah, yeah…" The wunderkind pushed back a few strands of her frizzy hair back and spoke once more into the microphone.

* * *

As Andy rounded a corner, Rachel continued hurrying after him, wondering when the relatively shorter CO had gotten such a fast walking pace.

"Could you please slow - huh?" As she herself rounded the corner, she found herself staring down a completely empty walkway. "Where?" On the off chance that she had somehow hallucinated Andy turning down this corner, she glanced backwards.

Nope. The hallway was still infuriatingly empty.

"Where on earth…" She mumbled to herself.

* * *

"Are you sure having it turn into goo and escaping down that vent was a good idea? It goes into the sewage section, you know?"

"Don't worry. I've invented nineteen different solutions _just_ for cleaning up those things!"

"Somehow, I'm starting to feel _more_ worried. About you, in particular."

The door swung open, and Andy – the _real_ Andy – strolled in. "How's things?"

Nell glanced back at the row of monitors, two of which showed Jake and Rachel respectively, about to collide into each other in the hallway. A tiny smile appeared on her face. "Oh, everything's going just fine."

* * *

(Apologies for the long time in between updates, not to mention actual update being horribly short. I'll try to speed up the next one, I promise!) 


	6. Chapter 6

Orange Crush

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Much to my dismay

Last chapter. After nearly a year. Well, it's been fun, folks. Let's hope I give a satisfying enough conclusion…

* * *

A quick about turn, and Rachel sighed. Yet another room with nobody inside.

"Andy, when I find you, are you ever going to catch it from me." She muttered under her breath. Pivoting on one heel, she turned and promptly crashed straight into Jake.

The male CO stumbled backwards, but retained sufficient presence of mind to right himself. Rachel had no such luck, and took a backward tumble, landing (rather painfully) on her rear end.

"Ow…" Hastily, she clambered to her feet, not wanting Jake to see her in that sort of position. Dusting off a pants leg, she glanced curiously at him.

"So… what brings you to this part of the HQ?" She asked. Jake shrugged in response.

"Andy parted ways with his cell a while back. I'm helping him snoop 'round for it." Jake folded his arms. "What about you, sister? Why brings _you_ to this dive?"

Rachel swallowed. She wasn't about to tell Jake that she had lost her way looking for the simulation training centre. "Um… I was… I was looking for Andy. I thought I saw him around here…"

Jake frowned. "Doesn't ring sound. Andy should be digging 'round the other end for his cell."

Rachel shrugged and headed towards the doorway. "Well, I saw him. And when I find him-" She stopped. The door was now closed. Walking over hurriedly, she leaned over and pressed hard. Yes. It was locked.

She wrenched angrily at the handle, knowing it to be futile. Meanwhile, Jake came up behind her, curious. "It's locked?"

"Yes… somehow." Rachel tossed her cap to the floor and slumped down on a nearby chair. "This really isn't turning out to be a good day." She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Nell crooked a smile. "Remote locking devices…" She remarked.

"Gotta love 'em." Lash finished the thought for her.

Nell glanced sideways at the madcap inventor. _Lash is starting to grow on me._ She thought to herself.

_Now THAT'S a scary thought_

Meanwhile, Andy sat back in his seat, idly watching the proceedings through the various security cameras.

* * *

"So... now what?" Rachel huffed as she folded her arms. Jake shrugged.

"Call maintenance, tell 'em to waltz their way over here and crack the door." Jake shrugged. "No big."

"I _would_, but maintenance has the day off, remember?" Rachel shook her head. "In fact, most of the ground crew has the day off. Nell convinced me they've been working hard enough that they deserve a break!"

"Nell! Just call her! _She_ should still be around the stomping area!"

"Great idea, Jake!" Rachel brightened up as she dipped her hand into her pocket… only to pull out her sister's cell phone.

"Oh… right. I was supposed to find and return this to her." She muttered as she let it slide back into her pocket. Then she glanced up. "What about-"

"I'm supposed to be looking for Andy's cell phone as is." Jake sighed and walked over to the bench. "Scoot over, 'kay?" He asked, and Rachel obliged.

"Well, maybe he's found it already. Try calling him."

Jake shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt, I guess." Digging out his own cell, he flipped it open and began dialing.

* * *

"Andy?"

"Yeah, it's set to silent." The boy mechanic took his cell phone and dropped it carelessly on a nearby table.

"Now, we wait." Nell nodded with satisfaction as she leaned over to observe the pair more closely. Jake had apparently just given up trying to contact Andy, lifting the phone from his ear with a shrug of helplessness.

"Wait?" Lash complained. Her personality did not lend itself well to patience. "Wait how long?"

"As long as it takes, my dear." Nell said, grinning. "As long as it takes."

_She's starting to scare me._ Lash though to herself.

* * *

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"So…"

"Hn?" Jake glanced up. "Yeah, Rach?"

She sighed. How to go through with this? "You know… the other day… the incident in the lift…"

Jake frowned. "What incident?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "What incident! The one where you… where you…" Okay, so she didn't have the clearest view on _what_ had happened, but _something_ had gone down. "When you did… something…" Ugh. This wasn't turning out at all like she had hoped. "And I ended up on your lap! What was _that_ all about?"

Jake glanced back down at the ground, silent. Finally, he roused himself and looked back to Rachel. "I was just trying to get you comfortable." He said. "After, you falling asleep on my shoulder might have hurt your face."

Rachel had turned about five different shades of red at that statement. "I… fell asleep? On your shoulder?" She squeaked.

Jake nodded. "Uh-huh. I thought that my shoulder might have been to uncomfortable a pillow, so I moved your head to my lap."

* * *

"Red as a tomato." Nell pursed her lips.

"Is that a good sign?" Andy glanced up from the magazine he was reading.

"Probably." Nell glanced around the room. "Is there any way to get a better audio feed?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your hat on." Lash leaned over the keyboard, typing furiously.

"- that's all? And you expect me to believe that?" Rachel's voice abruptly cut through the darkened interior of the security station.

"Done." Lash nodded with satisfaction and leaned back in her chair, hands clasped behind her head. "Easy work for a genius like me."

Nell rolled her eyes and returned to observing.

* * *

Jake frowned. Why was Rachel getting so flustered? "Yes, that's all." He shrugged. "You say it like it's odd that I'd want to make sure you're comfortable or something."

Now it was Rachel's turn to jerk back, eyes wide. "Nonono!" She babbled. "Not like that! Of _course_ you'd care for my personal… uh… my, um, comfort, and…" She covered her eyes with one hand. "Yeah… you, um, you know what I mean."

Jake nodded.

* * *

"They're just _sitting_ there." Nell grumbled.

Lash grinned. "Well, I _could_ pump the room full of aphrodisiacs…"

"Pass." Nell drummed her fingers impatiently on the console. "But why won't they just say it? We're giving them alone time…"

Andy glanced up from the mag. "But isn't that the problem? They like each other, sure, but they're terrified of the other not returning the feelings, which is why they've refused to talk about it."

"True…" Nell tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"We should have had a 3rd party mediator tell each other the truth, anyway." Andy returned to the magazine.

"Huh." Nell folded her arms, lips pursed in thought. "Lash, can you reverse the audio so we can communicate with them?"

"No problem! The room was used for briefing anywhere, so the speakers should still be intact." Lash drew out several nanobots from her pocket. "We'll need _these_ to reconfigure the wires!"

"Just… just be careful." Nell sighed. Then she turned to Andy. "You know, if I were to reveal to Rachel that I was behind this whole thing…"

"She'll get mad." Andy grinned. "I've seen you when _you're_ mad, Nell. I wonder what your sister is like."

Nell shook her head. "Nothing pleasant comes out of _those_ sessions, of that you can be assured. I'm going to have to find some way to do things more… subtly."

* * *

Rachel leaned against the wall, staring miserably at the opposite end of the room. "So what are our options?"

"Wait until tomorrow, when Maintenance trips back in. That, or Andy snags his cell phone, and then I can hook up with him and tell him to let us out." Jake shrugged elaborately. "It's not cool, but we can't do much about it, so-"

_krrkkl hissssssssssssss bip!_

"-chel? Rachel? Can you hear me?" Nell's voice suddenly resounded through the room. Rachel started, glancing around the emptiness.

"Rachel, if you can hear me, answer!"

"…Nell? Sis?" Rachel folded her arms. What was going on?

"Oh, thank goodness! We found you, then. What room are you in?"

Rachel tensed up. She had absolutely no idea, but to admit so would mean questions would be asked about her sense of direction, or lack thereof. She shot a sideways glance at Jake.

"We're, in, uh… in…"

"Sheesh, you were supposed to come bring me my phone, and you got lost. I always told you your bad sense of direction would make trouble for y-"

"Whoa!" Jake glanced over. "Rach has a lousy sense of direction?"

"Oh, Jake! You're there too?" Nell's voice sounded surprised. "Ugh, if only I had a video feed, I could find you two easily…"

Rachel, meanwhile, had her head buried in her hands. Jake knew. Jake _knew_. It was all over!

"…Jake? Is there a reason Rachel has gone completely silent?"

She raised her head and glared at the empty nothingness of the rest of the room. "You told him." She snapped.

"What about your lousy navigational skills? Get over it." Rachel heard Nell sigh. "I know, I know, you have a crush on Jake and don't want him to see you in a bad light-"

"**_NELL!"_** Rachel's agonized cry rent the air.

A shocked silence descended upon the room. Finally, Nell cleared her throat. "I'll work on getting a visual feed so I can find where you are."

Then there was the sound of the line being cut off.

* * *

Nell pumped a fist into the air. "If _that_ doesn't do it, nothing will!" She crowed.

Meanwhile, Andy rolled his eyes and bit into the sausage bun he had brought along with him.

* * *

_Don't LOOK at him, Rachel. Just… DON'T._

Of course, the one thing she dreaded the most was also the pathway through which eternal bliss and satisfaction (or at least that was one's view of it) lay, but at the moment Rachel didn't feel much like gambling. At least not insofar as this was concerned.

_Why couldn't they have built this thing with more windows intact? Then I could just take a flying leap out of one and never have to deal with this sort of humiliation ever agai-_

A hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to jump. Slowly, dreading every second of it, she turned around.

Jake was smiling. Okay… that was _probably_ a good sign. Smiling meant he wasn't going to get mad at her for being in love with him.

But it still left open the possibility that he was going to laugh in her face. Somehow, she didn't think her fragile psyche could bear the pain of his rejection-

So caught up was she in her thoughts that it took her a full two seconds to realize that she was being _kissed_ by Jake.

Suffice it to say that her mind was in turmoil, but if one was to attempt an extrapolation, a fair summary of her mental processes of that exact instant would be

_**HOLY CRAP!**_

* * *

"Don't they need to come up for air sometime?" Andy inquired.

"Shush, you." Nell grinned.

* * *

Finally, Jake pulled away. "So, you have a crush on me?"

Rachel didn't answer immediately, not because she didn't _want_ to, but mainly because her entire body felt like it had been transformed into a substance not too unlike warm marshmallow. It was a rather pleasant experience, but it rendered her partially unable to respond to stimulus.

Thus, in response, she merely nodded.

Then she felt Jake embrace her, and she proceeded to go weak at the knees. It was probably a good thing that was already sitting down, else she might have been in danger of crashing to the floor.

_click_

"Rachel? I couldn't find your location, so I activated an unlocking signal sent to every door in the complex. At your own leisure, make your way to the command centre, and I'll be there waiting for you. Don't forget my cell phone."

_click_

Then there was just silence in the room, the two COs in there hugging each other tightly.

* * *

"And then you decided to throw a party." Rachel mock glared at Nell, who nodded and took a long drink from her glass.

"Uh huh. Of course I'd want to celebrate my dear sister finding a boyfriend!" Nell grinned. "And of course, since my Master Plan proved successful, I fear your waked wrath turning upon me a lot less." Then she frowned. "Speaking of which, I should probably warn Jake about some of your antics when you get mad."

"NELL!"

"Kidding, kidding." Nell chuckled and took another sip. "Andy's occupying Jake's attention right now, anyway."

* * *

"So you _pretended_ to lose your phone?" Jake shook his head. "Made me crawl across half the compound too."

"Sorry about that, but hey! I helped you hook up with Rachel!" Andy was grinning as he piled his plate high with food. "You should be thanking me!"

Jake merely rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Alright, now, Andyzium, refill my glass!" Lash held out her cup, gesturing towards the bar as a signal for the Oozium to complete the latest task assigned it.

"Get it yourself." The mimic of Andy replied as he stuffed a chicken wing down his throat, bones and all. After which he proceeded to walk off.

Lash frowned and walked over to the bar herself. "Maybe I shouldn't have programmed a personality into it, after all." She mumbled to no one in particular.

She wasn't going to make the same mistake with the Nellzium, no sirree.

* * *

Rachel tapped Jake on the shoulder, smiling uncertainly as he turned around to face her.

"Want to… I mean… um, do you want to have a dance?"

Jake grinned. "Sounds groovy."

And so they did.

* * *

Nell leaned back at the sidelines of the dance floor, a contented smile on her face.

A contented smile, incidentally, that was mirrored by that of her younger sister.

"Nell?" Andy showed up, a plate of food in tow. Following her gaze, he grinned as he saw Jake holding Rachel close to his body.

"We did well, didn't we, Nell?"

"We did, Andy." Nell closed her eyes.

"We did."

* * *

And so it ends. Thanks for reading, everyone! It's been fun! 


End file.
